BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Raises Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,777 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,857 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in KLA were worth $46,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth approximately $348,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after buying an additional 404,634 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of KLA by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,645,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,026,983,000 after acquiring an additional 251,339 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of KLA by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,078,526,000 after acquiring an additional 131,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $411,568,000 after acquiring an additional 99,515 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,237.16.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,193.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $157.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,284.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,050.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $912.76.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 113.10% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,488,132.72. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total value of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. This represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,566 shares of company stock valued at $29,313,522. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.